Code Lyoko: Never Over
by DeathDealer1997
Summary: It's supposed to end, right? When the heroes defeat the evil guys, everything's supposed to turn out alright, right? WRONG! It hadn't ended, the deactivation of XANA and Lyoko wasn't the end, it was just the start *Complete*
1. Episode 1

Code Lyoko: Old Wounds

Rated M for Blood, death, and language

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Chapter 1

William sat on the top of an old building, sitting against a door

How things had gone wrong

He got up and looked over the side

Down below, hell had risen

Buildings burned, monsters walked the streets, people died

He didn't know how it had come to this, no one did really

Somehow, XANA came back online, set himself up in the old factory, brought the super-computer back online, bringing his monsters from Lyoko to take over the world, and he was making a lot of progress

Within hours they took over the city, and despite the best efforts of the military, the state soon followed

Not long until the entire country became a war-zone, he created more super-computers and links to Lyoko, more and more places to spawn his monsters

He had always stayed within the same state as the factory; he was in a different city, a few miles to the South

A Mantis flew by his building; he pulled out his gun and shot the symbol

_How did this happen?_

He frequently asked himself

_How?_

_How?_

_How!_

_How!_

_HOW!_

Then screaming came from down below

He looked closer; 3 blocks were attacking someone

The building was partially collapsed and slanted

He slid down and pulled a sword off his belt

Yumi's home had been the first place he went when the world ended, the place was empty and demolished; he searched and screamed for Yumi, no one answered

When he had finally returned to his senses he searched the house for anything useful, the samurai sword was all he could find

He stabbed one of the blocks in the symbol, then ran past it and stabbed another one while simultaneously shooting the other one

He looked for the person they were attacking

He saw movement behind the rocks

"It's alright now, you can come out." He called

Then she walked out

"William? Is that you?"


	2. Episode 2

Chapter 2

4 months earlier

It had been 2 years since they deactivated XANA and Lyoko

2 years since he had been freed from it's clutches

Under his domination, he always held onto the slim hope that someday, he would break free

Then everything would go back to normal

That's what's supposed to happen, right?

When the heroes save the day and evil is vanquished, the heroes live happily ever after, right?

This was so wrong it disgusted William!

When he got back, he returned not to the safety and welcome of his friends, but to eyes of suspicion and distrust

It hadn't been his fault; they sent him to the most dangerous place in Lyoko on his first time

It was his first damn time! They didn't bother to train him! Or give him any advice!

Protect Aelita! That's all the advice they had!

And they expected everything to go right, for him to act like he had been doing it his whole life, to pick it up right away

When he got back, they didn't even let him near the machine, and when they thought he wasn't looking, they looked at him like he was going to turn back to evil any second

If it weren't for Yumi, he might of committed suicide

No one else forgave him or welcomed him back

Aelita at least tried but at the end of the day, she still couldn't trust him

But Yumi, Yumi did her best to help him

She was pretty much the only one who kept contact with him over the years

He thought things might actually turn out all right when he asked her out and she said yes

Thought he might still have something to live for, that he still had a chance at happiness

Then the unbelievable happened

He got a phone-call from Jeremy, who had kept a close eye on the deactivated super-computer, incase it might come back, which it did

Thing was, he couldn't switch it back off

He said that everyone else was already there; they were just waiting for him before making a move

He was sure that the only reason they were was because Yumi convince them to


	3. Episode 3

Chapter 3

When he got there, their eyes were still the same

After all this time, 2 years, they still hadn't forgotten

Yumi was the first, and only, one to say, "Hey William, we've been waiting."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, there was traffic." William replied

Jeremy had eyes of caution

Aelita had eyes of worry

Ulrich had eyes of hate

Odd had eyes of slight fear

They all looked to the computer screen

"I don't know who, how, or why. But someone activated XANA." Said Jeremy

"How do you know he's not coming online himself?" said William

"Not possible, it'd be like asking an unconscious person to swim." Said Jeremy

"We're still deciding on how to deal with this." Said Aelita

"Guessing it's not as simple as pulling the plug." Said William

"If only it were, he's already transferred bits and pieces of himself to about 100,000 computers, we can't remotely shut them all down from here." Said Jeremy "I'm sending you all to Sector 5 where we can hopefully find data in XANA's old files as to how to deactivate him or who activated him in the first place."


	4. Episode 4

Chapter 4

"Odd, Yumi and Ulrich will go first, then William and Aelita." Said Jeremy "Transfer Odd, Transfer Yumi, Transfer Ulrich, Scanner Odd, Scanner Yumi, Scanner Ulrich, Virtualization!"

Then William and Aelita walked into the scanners

"Transfer Aelita, Transfer William, Scanner Aelita, Scanner William, Virtualization!"

The virtualized in the arena of Sector 5

"The others have already stopped the countdown, they're waiting in the next corridor." Said Jeremy

William and Aelita ran to the next corridor where, just as Jeremy said, the others were waiting

"Come on slow-pokes! We've got a world to save!" said Odd

They ran to the elevator

"It's been so long, surprised I even remember how to walk in Lyoko." Said Yumi

"Luckily you're a fast learner." Said Ulrich

"So how have you all fared since we deactivated XANA, I haven't talked to any of you in months." Said Aelita

"Or years." Said William

Most of them were silent

"Uhh, sorry bout that Will, I meant to call but…" said Odd

"Course you did." Said William "We all know Yumi's the only one who even tried. The rest of you were just dying for me to get out of your lives."

"Wait, Yumi…you called him?" said Ulrich

"Yeah, what about it?" said Yumi

"…Nothing."

"Oh no you don't Sulking Sam, we don't have time for you to go emo on us again." Said Odd, obviously taking the opportunity to break the tension

Then the elevator made their stop

"Jeremy, virtualize our vehicles, we're probably going to have to make a quick get-away." Said Aelita as they ran through the halls

"Already there. Find what we need and get back here." Said Jeremy

They reached the terminal and their vehicles were waiting

Aelita started hacking into the terminal while the others stayed alert

"You know what I'm not getting?" Said Ulrich

"What?" said William

"We haven't come across any monsters before this point."

"Didn't you fight them to hit the switch?" said Aelita

"No, the corridor was empty." Said Yumi

"Don't jinx us guys, maybe XANA is taking a day off." Said Odd

Then Jeremy saw more reds on the screen than he had ever seen before

"Legions of monsters, coming from all directions! Get the hell out of there!" yelled Jeremy

Then they all came into visual, there were way too many to defend against

"Oh no, not now!" said Jeremy

"What is it?" said Yumi

"There's an activated tower in…everywhere, every tower in the network is going online!"

"This was a trap!" said Ulrich


	5. Episode 5

Chapter 5

"Really, figure that out all by yourself Sherlock?" said William

"This isn't the time! Get out of there!" yelled Jeremy

Yumi, William and Aelita jumped onto the over-wing

Odd jumped onto the Over-Board

Ulrich jumped onto the Over-Bike

"Whatever you do, don't fall into the digital sea! Remember if that happens you don't come back!" said Jeremy

Mantis in the air and Creepers crawling over the sphere, there wasn't any place they could catch a breath

Then a blast hit the Over-wing, it wasn't enough to devertualize it but Aelita fell

William jumped down after her and they fell onto a Mantis

The Mantis swished a swerved, they held on tightly to it to avoid falling

While going down to save them Ulrich was shot and devertualized

The same happened to Yumi

Then a shot it the Over-Board, Odd fell and landed on a Mantis

"Wait here!" said William, jumping from Mantis to Mantis to get to Odd

Then both Mantises started to dive into the digital sea; they were going to sacrifice themselves to kill their riders

William only had time to save one, and if he hesitated then he would lose them both

He went for Aelita

When he reached her, he stabbed her with his sword and devertualized her to get her out of there

Then watched, helplessly, as Odd was plunged into the digital sea

Gone from existence, just like that

William stabbed himself to devertualize and get out of there


	6. Episode 6

Chapter 6

He walked out of the scanner; everyone else was already there, except for Odd

"Where's Odd? Why didn't he come out of the Scanners?" said Yumi

"Odd is…Odd is dead. He fell into the digital sea." Said Jeremy

They were all silent

"Why did you just leave him there?" said Ulrich, getting angry with William

"He was already gone by the time I could save him!" retaliated William

"You could have stopped them from throwing him in, you could have saved him!"

"If I did Aelita wouldn't be here! I had to make a choice!"

"Ulrich, if it weren't for William I wouldn't be here either, we would both be dead now." Said Aelita

"Well what about the trap! They obviously knew we were coming!" said Ulrich

"Really, you're blaming me for that! Case you didn't notice, I almost died too!"

"Ulrich, your being ridiculous!" said Yumi

"How do we know he hasn't gone back to XANA, how do we know that he didn't set us up!"

"I'll run a scan of William," said Jeremy

"You really need to check! What do I have to do, fall into the digital sea myself to get you guys to realize that I'm on your side!"

"William, I know you're on our side," said Yumi

"You know what!" William ignored her, and yelled at Ulrich "Fuck you! To hell with all of you!"

He stormed into the elevator

"William, wait!" called Yumi

William ignored her and went back to the surface

"Those bastards!" he said to himself


	7. Episode 7

Chapter 7

He slowly walked away from the factory in the cold, rainy night

He sat down on a bench, angry at the world

"What's wrong with them? Why do they find it so impossible to trust me!"

He felt like he could kill the whole world with his hate

He barely even felt the pellets of cold landing on his back

Only one thing was worthy of his hate, The Lyoko Warriors

He could picture them all, dying by his hand, stabbed to death, beaten, buried alive!

"William?" a voice came from the woods

"Yumi?" answered William

He felt like strangling her, beating her, gutting her

"Will, are you alright?" she approached

"Do I look alright?" he said

She sat down next to him and put her rain jacket around him

"You'll catch a cold out here." She said

"What do you care?" he pushed her away

"William, I care about you."

No response

"I can help you. You don't have to be alone."

She wrapped her hand around his and put her arm around him

His intensity decreased, and he remembered why he bothered staying alive

"Why did you save me? There's nothing left for me here, you all hate me, so why did you even bother?" he said

"Cause I couldn't leave you. And I don't hate you, I care about you."

William thought he could feel a tear under his eye, although it might have just been rain

"You don't have to be alone."

He forgot all the hate, forgot all the death he planned

They leaned into each other and kissed

And if just for a moment, all the hate, all the strife, all the pain, was happily left behind


	8. Episode 8

He couldn't go back to the factory, not after what had just happened, instead he stayed on the home front. Protecting the citizens from the continuous XANA attacks

It happened every hour, a XANA attack would threaten people; he would stop it until the Lyoko Warriors shut down the tower

Day after day, week after week, the same thing

He and Yumi met whenever they could, which barely ever happened, but she said that they weren't even close to deactivating all the towers

He heard fear in her voice, she actually said once "I don't think we can win this."

"We will, we have to." He had replied, but he didn't even think he believed himself

This never-ending cycle of suppressing the threat went on and on and on until, one day, they failed

He remembered it so clearly; Yumi came running towards him in the forest, tears in her eyes

"It's over…he took the factory…we can't go to Lyoko, we can't fight back…it's over."


	9. Episode 9

He and Yumi stuck together, for as long as possible

XANA sent monsters from Lyoko through the scanners, and hacked into other super-computers, possessed people to build more scanners to send in his monsters

His army marched on the world; the United Stated Military drastically lowered their age requirement to 13 years old so that they would have more troops to fight the monsters

He and Yumi hid in a bunker, they couldn't contact the outside without being traced by XANA so they couldn't reach the other Lyoko Warriors, and they assumed that they were either dead or had joined the military

They would have joined the military too, but they were trapped, no way out

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

William sat against the wall of their old warehouse, waiting for death to find him

Yumi stood, looking out the window to watch the world burn

"They'll see you." He said grimly

She sighed and sat next to him

He saw a tear form in her eye; he put his arm around her

He wanted to say it would be all right, but that would be a lie

She rested her head on his shoulder and went to sleep

They were both tired, and hungry, neither had slept in 2 days, always on the run, always hiding

Their water supply came from water-fountains in public buildings

Their food came from dumpsters and trashcans that were never emptied out

They had nothing to hope for, no way to fight back

Kill one of his monsters and 5 would replace it

Victories meant nothing in this world, and Lyoko was far from reach

They were bodies waiting to die, and their human nature forced them to survive

Each of them kept the other strong

All each had left was the other

Then someone ran into the warehouse

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" he screamed

They woke up when he smashed through the door

William instantly noticed the military uniform

They got up and ran over to him, his arm was wounded, and blood was pouring out

"Civilians?" he said

"Is the military coming?" said Yumi

"…Yeah, they're going to pick me up…at the top of the building…just North of here…"

Then his head rolled back and he died

William took his pistol

"Come on, we're getting out of here." He told Yumi

Then Crabs blew through the wall, they ran out the North door, across the streets they saw the 5-story building the soldier had been talking about

2 Blocks stood between them and the building

William shot one in the symbol while Yumi threw a long, spear-like pipe into the second one

They ran into the building, Hornets chased after them

They ran to the top via the stairs, not daring to take a chance on the elevator, all number of things could go wrong there

Then 3 Hornets came down the stairs, William shot 2, and Yumi pushed him out of the way of a bolt before jump kicking the last one

Then the perusing Hornets caught up to them, William shot a few before they finally made it around a corner and out of their range

They broke through a door that led to the roof and closed it behind them, using a metal pipe to hold it shut

"That should hold them…for a time." Said William

"The Military had better get here soon." Said Yumi

Then a Creeper climbed up on top of the building and shot at them

They hid behind whatever they could find

Then Yumi ran around it then ran strait for it

The Creeper blasted her back; William got out of cover and shot at it

"Die you son of a bitch!" he screamed

He hit the symbol on its head and it blew up

He ran over to Yumi

"You alright?" he said helping her up

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She replied

Then a large blast hit the building from the ground

The shockwave knocked them to the ground, William looked over the side

"Damn, a Mega-Tank!"


	10. Episode 10

The Mega-Tank hit the building again

"They're tying to make the building collapse!" said Yumi

The Mega-Tank hit it again, the building started to slant

William grabbed Yumi's arm and ran to the side of the building that was slanted down

"When I say now, jump, okay?" he said

Yumi nodded

The Mega-Tank hit it again and the slowly building fell

"NOW!"

They jumped and slid down the building

When they landed on the ground they swiftly got back up and ducked into the nearest building that wasn't collapsed

They breathed heavily

"If…that wasn't the most terrifying moment of my life…it would have been really bad-ass." Laughed William

Yumi chuckled

3 Blocks cut their laughter short

William had lost his gun; they ran out the building and back into the streets

Then a wall of violent energy briefly blocked their path

There was the Mega-Tank, coming out of the rubble of the fallen the building

They ran into an alleyway across the streets and then climbed the fire escape to the top of the building

The building was about 3-stories up

Hornets flew up to them and shot at them

One of them hit William and he fell off the building and into a river rushing into the sewers

He fought the currents best he could, but it was too strong

He saw Yumi, hiding behind crates to avoid the Hornets while looking down at him

"Go to your house! I'll meet you there! Your house!" he screamed, wishing to God that she heard him while the currents forced him under a tunnel and into the sewers


	11. Episode 11

The sewers were probably the most dangerous part of the city; XANA didn't want anyone sneaking into the factory so he guarded the sewers well

There were Creepers around every corner

He snuck behind one and stabbed it in the symbol with a really big and sharp rock, then rolled back when it blew up

He climbed up a ladder and out of the sewers just before the other Creepers made it to the site of the explosion

He recognized where he was, this used to be his neighborhood, before he was kidnapped by XANA

After that he had moved to another city, not too far as to where he couldn't ever see Yumi but just far enough to where he wouldn't have to see any of the others

To the South he believed, just a few miles

He stopped daydreaming and returned to the task at hand; Yumi's house was just a few streets to the Northwest

He ducked into the alleyways before he was spotted

He traveled through them until he reached the same street

In the street were about 3 Blocks, he didn't have the means to take them all down quickly, and they would attract more monsters if he took to long to kill them

He ducked behind a car and smashed the window before running back to his alleyway

The Blocks went over to the car to investigate, while they were doing this he went through the side-door of a building then through the front, past them and to the house

The house was more or less structurally sound, a few missing chunks of roof and a blown in door but that was, surprisingly, pretty much it

He walked in, the place was trashed, what place isn't nowadays, there was a Hornet inside that he grabbed and smashed on the ground

He searched the house; he had already been here before, once when her parents and brother were out of town, so he knew his way around

The entire house was clear of hostiles; he found a corpse in her parents' old bedroom

Someone who thought they'd set themselves up here he guessed

"Doesn't exactly encourage confidence." Said William

He searched the body and found a pistol

He took it, not like this guy was using it

He went to Yumi's room and lied down


	12. Episode 12

William couldn't sleep without knowing Yumi's fate

_What if she didn't hear me? What if she yelled a location and I didn't hear her? What if she's trapped somewhere and can't get here?_

Sometimes, he would accidently let the worst-case scenario slip into his head

_What if she died on that roof?_

Just the thought broke his heart, and reminded him that he was helpless, he couldn't affect her fate at all, and he couldn't help her

Helplessness had always affected him hard

When Odd died, and he couldn't do anything to help him, it hurt him inside

With Yumi, it killed him inside, and worst of all, he not only couldn't help her, he couldn't know what happened to her

He got out of bed and walked outside on the porch

The trees blocked any view of the porch from the streets so he didn't have to worry about being spotted

He looked up in the sky, and wondered if she was alive, looking up into the sky too

Thinking about him like he was thinking about her

Then he saw something in the sky; he could also faintly hear helicopter propellers

He ran inside and got binoculars then looked at it

It must be the chopper that was coming for the soldier

But who was sitting on the edge?

He focused the sight of the binoculars

It was Yumi! She must have survived the roof and got picked up by the chopper when it came for the soldier!

She would be safe with The Military, they would make sure that she stayed safe; they had plenty of bunkers to keep civilians alive

All he had to do was find The Military, and he would find Yumi again!

But The Military wasn't going to come to the heart of XANA territory without a good reason, like saving a soldier; he couldn't wait for a passing chopper, least not here

He had to leave the city, go somewhere where choppers were more likely to see him

Perhaps his other home, the one south of this city, the place was familiar, and he had an apartment on the top floor of a 4 story building so he would have fast access to the roof if a passing chopper came.

Plus there weren't any super-computers or Lyoko Scanners in the area so not only will he have access to the sewers, but also Monster activity will be considerably lower

He would finally be able to walk across the streets without fighting an army

The only problem was getting out of this city, then transport to the next.


	13. Episode 13

He spent the rest of the night at Yumi's

When the sun rose he had breakfast for the first time in a long time, then he grabbed a backpack and put in a lot of food from the cabinets, he was surprised that looters hadn't picked this place clean yet

He also found a samurai sword and the holster witch he clipped to his belt

He looked out the window, the streets were clear for the moment

He snuck out, he saw a group of Blocks in the distance but they weren't close enough to see him

He ran to an alleyway and climbed the fire escape

He saw the south edge of the city, not too far away, 2 minuets by car, if only the streets weren't so crowded

He climbed back down the building, the Blocks were even further away, but they were in the South direction so he had to deal with them

Luckily, he had the element of surprise

He ran up behind the Blocks, he stabbed the one closest in the Symbol, and then shot the other two

He holstered his weapons and continued walking

He constantly had to duck under cars while Hornets flew over-head or Mega-Tanks rolled by, he wanted to avoid as many fights as possible

When he made it to the edge of the city, he got into a car

He found the key in the ignition, and when the coast looked clear, he turned it and drove off as quickly as possible


	14. Episode 14

Driving on the open road reminded him of all the times he had done it before, when going to visit Yumi

Every break from school; summer vacation, spring break, etc, he would rent a hotel there and stay for a most of it, they would have the best times together

Maybe a movie, or a trip to the swimming pool, or just walking in the park

He liked making her happy and watching her smile, they had so many good memories.

When she smiled it made him smile. When she was happy it made him happy.

When the world ended, she was his only light

There wasn't any sadness that couldn't be cured by her smile

He loved her, he had never found the way to repay her for all the joy she brought him

All he knew was, when she was happy; he couldn't help but be happy too

He hoped she was all right; she had to be all right

If she was gone then…


	15. Episode 15

He stopped in front of his old apartment building; he was lucky to only have one encounter with XANA on his way over here

He turned off the car, leaving the key in the ignition

He noticed that the building was slanted, someone must have had a run-in with a Mega-Tank and his building was damaged

He could probably slide down the side if he needed to, witch would probably prove very helpful later on

He pulled out his bag of food and went inside

There was a small group of 3 Hornets

He dropped his bag and pulled out his weapons

He shot one, the rolled to the side and shot another one, then rolled forward and sliced the last one in half

He picked up his bag, got the skeleton key from the managers office, and climbed the stairs

He reached his room, room 13

Inside, the place was rather dusty, but most of everything was still intact.

He put down his supplies in the living room

He walked out onto the balcony and looked down, it was slanted down here

He could just jump out his window and slide to the ground from here

He went to the bedroom and lied down, tired from the journey


	16. Episode 16

William sit on the balcony, it had been almost a week since he had moved in here, he only ran out of food once so he looted some from the neighboring rooms, he hadn't had to leave the building once

Not a single Military chopper had passed through the airs, when one did he had a flare gun handy in his bag, he found it when he was replenishing food

He just sat on the balcony with his weapons and his bag, sitting and waiting for something to happen

He killed a Manta that flew by, Mantas were more frequent here than in the city up North, but there weren't any Crabs or Mega-Tanks

Then he heard a scream from down below, just across the street

3 Blocks were attacking someone

He jumped off the balcony and slid down

When he hit the ground he killed the first Block with his sword, then the second with his sword while simultaneously shooting the other one

Whoever was under attack had fled behind a car

"It's alright, you can come out now." He called

Then a familiar face walked out

"William? Is that you?" she said

"Aelita?" he said

He noticed the Military uniform

"Anyone else join the Military?" said William

"Jeremy, he and the rest of our Unit are in another part of the city, he's the strategist, I'm just support." Said Aelita

"What about Ulrich?"

Aelita sighed

"Ulrich…died when XANA first broke out, he couldn't get out of the factory in time." Said Aelita

"Have you heard anything about Yumi, she got rescued by Military." Said William

"Sorry William, I'm not part of the rescue branch, I don't even know who to send you to who could help you find her. I'm sorry William."

She pulled a portable communicator (Military Walkie-Talkie)

The communicator was damaged however

"You wouldn't know how to fix this, would you? It got damaged by those Blocks and I would like to contact my Unit and get back to them." She said

He took it from her hand

"I'll see what I can do." He had taken a class that taught some of the skills required to repair this before he had been transferred to Kadic Academy.

He sat down and tried fixing it

"Have to say, glad you're still on our side, I was worried that…" The moment she said it she wished she hadn't

But it was too late to take it back

"What?" he said angrily

"…Nothing," Said Aelita

"Finish what you were going to say!"

She took a step back as he stood up and faced her

"I-I…" she couldn't get any words out

He grabbed her wrist

"Finish!" he said

"I just thought that…after XANA took over you might have, gone, to, his, side." She said weakly

William was enraged

_Nothing has changed! After all this time they still feel the same they did all that time ago! I only remembered the good times! I forgot all the bad ones, which was most of them! I forgot their scorn! Their hate! I won't again!_

He threw her to the ground

"You know what! Find your own fucking way home!" he threw the communicator on the ground beside her

He started to walk away while she called back to him

"Wait, William! I'm sorry! I never thought you'd go willingly!" she called

He ignored her

"If you help me find my Unit, Jeremy might be able to help you find Yumi!"

He stopped and looked back at her

"He knows more about the ranks and such, he might be able to locate her!"

Without hesitation, he walked back and started again on repairing the communicator


	17. Episode 17

William sat on the side of the road, repairing the communicator

Aelita was standing on the roof of a car, on the lookout for any monsters

Every now and then she would rub her wrist, which William had bruised when he grabbed her

"William! Get down!" she said to William as a Manta flew overhead

They both slid under the car

"I won't be able to repair this under these conditions, we've got to get somewhere safer." Said William "Once the Manta has passed we'll go back to my base, we should be safe there."

Aelita nodded

They waited until the Manta hadn't wailed for 2 minuets, then climbed out from under the car

"Follow me." He said putting the communicator into his bag

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

They made it back to William's apartment without any trouble at all  
>William sat down on the couch and continued fixing the communicator<p>

Aelita took a nap in the bedroom while he was fixing it

Just before re-routing the last wire, William checked to make sure it was off since XANA could track radio signals

He re-routed the wire, closed it, and then went to wake up Aelita

"Wake up, it's fixed." He said shaking her shoulder

She opened her eyes lazily

They walked back into the living room; the communicator was on the table

"We have to leave this place before using it, I don't want XANA finding this place." Said William

"You don't have to, you think the Military is stupid enough to use communicators that XANA can hack into?" said Aelita "These are 2-way radios, only communicate with one frequency. It can't be found unless it's being actively searched for."

She turned it on and started speaking

"Sergeant Carlos? Mathew? Jeremy? Are any of you there? This is Private 1st Class Aelita Stones, do any of you read?"

The radio crackled, but they could hear a voice over the static

"_Private 1__st__ Class Aelita Stones, this is Sergeant Carlos, good to hear from you again, we're all here and read you semi-clearly, what is your current location?"_

"I'm in an apartment building off," she looked out the window "Cedar Crest Dr. to the North of the city."

"_There's a Manta hive between us and that location, we'll have to meet somewhere, are you looking out a window to the East?"_

"Yes."

"_Do you see the city police station?"_

"Yeah, we'll meet there?"

"_Affirmative, we'll all be there, good luck and keep your radio on."_

"Alright."

She put the radio in William's bag

"How exactly were you separated from them?" he asked

"I was on a scouting mission, ended up going further than I wanted to when I was attacked by a Manta, I fell and dropped my gun into the sewers. I thought I was finished when a shot came out of nowhere and blew it up, then I ran into some Blocks and you saw how that turned out." Said Aelita

William grabbed his bag

"Come on, let's go." He said, jumping out the window and sliding down

Aelita followed down

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

They traveled by the sewers, unlike the city up North the sewers were almost abandoned by XANA

"What happened to you after that night in the factory?" she said while walking

"I helped Yumi clean up the messes XANA caused while you were deactivating towers." Said William

"Really, she never mentioned you?"

"That's cause I didn't want to have anything to do with you, Ulrich, or Jeremy. Yumi was the only one who was still my friend after what happened in the factory. Actually, she was the only one who was still my friend as of 2 years ago"

"You know, only Ulrich blamed you for what happened to Odd."

"Right, the rest of you just treated me like I had a disease."

"I'm sorry, we were just being careful."

"For 2 years. You were "just being careful" for 2 damn years! And even after that, I saw it in all of you, you still didn't trust me!"

"It's not like it's our fault you let yourself get possessed by XANA!"

He turned and glared at her, making her step back

"You know what, yes it is! I was new, okay? I had never set foot in Lyoko before! Never had any training or tips or anything! And you all had the bright idea of sending the noob to the most dangerous place in Lyoko! What did you expect to happen?" he yelled

Then a laser hit him in the back of the shoulder

"Shit!" he fell to the ground

3 Hornets were behind him

He grabbed the gun on his belt and shot at them, taking out 2 before the last one shot him again in the back, making him drop the gun

Aelita quickly picked it up and killed the last one

"Are you alright?" she said kneeling next to him

"Do I look alright?" he said

She helped him stand until he was able to do it himself

Aelita didn't dare say another word the entire way in fear of angering him further


	18. Episode 18

They climbed out of the sewers when they _thought_ they were close to the Police Station

Luckily the sewer exited to across the street from the station

They started walking towards it, then a blast hit Aelita's foot

William looked to where the blast originated, there were 3 Blocks and a half-dozen Hornets

William and Aelita ducked behind a car, William jumped out to shoot, got one Block and 2 Hornets before they hit the gun out of his hand and retreated back behind the car

Then William and Aelita heard a barrage of machine gun fire

They slowly looked out and saw 3 Military soldiers opining fire, taking all of the monsters out before they had a chance to fire back

William grabbed his gun and put it back in it's holster, then they got out of cover to greet the soldiers

"Aelita!" Jeremy broke from the group of soldiers, he and Aelita shared a warm embrace

One of the soldiers gave a stern "ahem!" and they broke up and scrambled into attention

"Sir!" they said with a salute

The other soldier chuckled

"You people never get old." He laughed

Then the apparent leader looked to William

"A civilian?" he said

Then Jeremy recognized him

"Sir, I know this civilian." He said

"So do I, and he saved my life out there." Said Aelita

The leader walked up to him

"Sergeant James Carlos." He said, and then gestured to the other soldier "Private 1st Class Mathew Morgan. You appear to already know Private 1st Class Aelita Stones and Specialist Jeremy Belpois."

Carlos was probably the only one over 18, unless Mathew was older than he looked

"Afternoon, I'm William Dunbar." William replied

"Sir, we aren't safe in the open." Said Mathew

"We'll continue this inside the police station." Said Carlos

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

They all ran into the police station, which the soldiers had set up like a camp.

They sat down on some benches

"How do you know Jeremy and Aelita?" said Carlos

"We attended school together…didn't exactly end on good terms." Said William

"Are either of you two wounded?" he said to both William and Aelita

"Nothing serious." Said Aelita

"I'll live." Said William

They told William where everything was and what not to mess with, they also told him he would be sleeping with everybody else (minus Aelita who slept apart from the men) in the barracks

Everybody else left to do his or her own thing, leaving William sitting in the armory picking out a new, better, pistol when Mathew walked in

"Hey, we didn't exactly get well acquainted back there. Mathew Morgan as sarge already said." He said shaking William's hand "I'm the medic and the only thing keeping moral from hitting rock bottom."

"Really, you're the "glass half full" person."

"Pretty much."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Jeremy and Aelita were hanging out in the barracks

Jeremy had his arm around Aelita who rested her head on his shoulder

He had already told her how worried he was when she didn't come back and begged her to be more careful next time

He kissed her forehead while she curled up in his arms

But then he noticed her tense up when he held her hand

He carefully applied more pressure to her hand and she tensed again and bit her lip

He started to unroll her sleeve, and saw the hand-shaped bruise on her arm

He was sure he had never hurt her, and it was definiatly a human hand who did this

"Aelita…who did this?" he asked her

She looked down at her arm silently

He got up and walked towards the door

"Jeremy…don't do anything drastic!" she called after him

He ignored her


	19. Episode 19

Jeremy stormed out of the barracks, Aelita followed close behind

He saw William walking out of the armory

He walked up and punched William across the face; William was caught unprepared and got a bloody nose

Jeremy grabbed him by the collar of his shirt

"You hurt Aelita!" said Jeremy punching him again

William head-but Jeremy then kneed him in the stomach before throwing him to the ground

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he yelled

Jeremy got up and punched William again, then again, then kicked him

"I saw the bruise! And XANA sure didn't put it there!" he yelled while kicking William again

William slowly got back up

"So what if I did, that bitch deserved worse!" said William

Jeremy punched William, then kneed him in the stomach before throwing him on the ground and stomping on his back

"You don't talk about her like that!" he yelled

William was about to retaliate when the sergeant came in

"Break it up!" he screamed, stopping William, Aelita stopped Jeremy.

Mathew came in from the armory and helped break up the struggle

When they were both separated, Sergeant Carlos began the scolding

"We are all in this together! I don't know what happened last you saw each other but it doesn't matter here and now! Case you haven't noticed, the world has gone to hell, we don't have time to let this get in the way of getting stuff done! You two are to always be supervised 24/7 by Morgan, Stones, or me! Understand?"

"Yes sir." Jeremy had replied

"Whatever." William had replied


	20. Episode 20

After there fight, William and Jeremy had been separated, Jeremy also demanded that William be kept away from Aelita, no one objected to this

Sergeant Carlos walked into the barracks where William had been quarantined

"Are you calmed down now?" said Carlos

"_He_ attacked _me_ ya know?" said William

"He also said that you bruised Stone's arm, and she confirmed it. Now a bad history I don't have a problem with, but if you are going to hurt of threaten my troops, I will not hesitate to throw you back onto the streets with the monsters, understand?"

"I just want to find Yumi, get me in contact with the rescue branch and I'll be out of your hair."

Carlos sighed

"Let me tell you something, we have a beacon, it will call command and they'll pick us up, then and only then will we be able to get you in contact with anybody, but you know what else. We aren't authorized to activate that particular beacon until we've completed our mission here to destroy the Manta Hive in this city, get the picture." Said Carlos

"As soon as we kill the hive, you get me in contact with the rescue branch." Said William

"_If_ you pull your weight around here, help out, don't threaten my troops, then _maybe_ we'll help you find whoever your looking for." He extended his hand "Deal?"

They shook hands

"Deal." Said William

Carlos started walking towards the door

"Long as you agree to cooperate with Belpois and Stones, you're free to walk around the base, but I've got my eye on you." Said Carlos

"I won't start any battles if they don't." said William

Carlos nodded and walked out

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

A man in a black and red uniform walked through the halls of an underground base

The XANA symbol was on his chest

He walked into a room with a super-computer in the middle; he pressed his hand on the scanner to summon his master

The XANA symbol appeared holographic above the super-computer, the man bowed

"Monsters in Sector 7 have been disappearing more rapidly than can be normal, the only scenario that the Scyphozoa could imagine was that a group of Military had moved in, when we sent scouts they sent the following before being destroyed."

He inserted a small disk into the super-computer

The disk played from the perspective of a Hornet in the sewers

It and 2 others came across 2 very familiar faces before engaging and being destroyed

"Send large amounts of reinforcements to Sector 7, alert me immediately when these two have been found and terminated." Said XANA

"Right away." He began to walk out

"Do not underestimate them." Said XANA

"I understand what they are capable of, they will die you have nothing to fear."


	21. Episode 21

William didn't leave the barracks until next morning; everyone had gotten their sleep that night

In the morning, Jeremy and Aelita still avoided his as much as possible, but they didn't have any trouble

Carlos definitely didn't like about the lack of trust among his troops, but he was just happy that they weren't trying to kill each other

They ate what they could find in the police station, and then met in the armory

"Specialist Belpois has been making a plan to destroy the Manta hive for awhile, tell us what you have Belpois." Said Sergeant Carlos

Jeremy placed down the design schematics of a building

"The Manta Hive resides in this building which is 5 blocks East of us," said Jeremy

"Where did you get these schematics?" said William

"I got them from the city manager's office last week." Said Aelita

"Ahem!" said Jeremy

"Continue Belpois." Said Carlos

"Right, I've deduced what supports we have to hit in order for the building to fall in the least amount of explosives, it will take 3. 2 around the bottom floor, here and here," Jeremy said pointing to 2 different pillars on the bottom floor, "And here on the second floor." Said Jeremy pointing to a pillar on the second floor "If we hit those exact pillars with explosives the entire structure will collapse, and the Manta Hive will go with it. We can use the dynamite from this very armory, we only need 3 but I recommend we bring 6 just in case. I think we should all travel in a group, setting the explosives one at a time,"

"Quick question, how do we make the dynamite go off and still make it out?" said Mathew

"Cigarettes." Said Jeremy holding up a case

He lit one and set it on the ground

"I didn't know you smoked." Said William

"I don't, these were lying around the station, now watch it. The cigarette carries the fire with it, we light it and set it by the dynamite, when the flame finally reaches the dynamite it will go off, an improvised slow-match." Said Jeremy "These are too small for the Mantas to notice, so they should go off uninterrupted."

"Your plan is hinging on them doing exactly what you want them too. What's your backup plan?" said William

"The 3 extra sticks of dynamite." Said Jeremy

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

They snuck into the alley by the Manta Hive and hid in a dumpster

"Okay everyone, I'm on point, keep your weapons loaded and make sure that they don't hit the bag of explosives or we're all dead, understand?" whispered Carlos

"Yes sir." They whispered back

"William, you're the one setting the dynamite, everyone protect him, let's go."

They silently jumped out of the dumpster and entered the building through a side door

They made it to the first column without much trouble; there weren't any Mantas on the first floor

They were more on the third and forth floors

Jeremy they set the first and second piece and the slow match

Then they climbed up the stairs, Carlos peeked around the corner before entering to check the coast

"One Manta by the windows." He whispered to the group

"Easy." Said William

"We need to be silent, otherwise they could discover the dynamite." Said Jeremy

Carlos snuck into the room and hid under a desk, the Manta floated through the room and right over him

William grabbed his sword and silently ran out

He jumped onto the desk, then onto the Manta's back before stabbing the symbol

It exploded and he fell to the ground

They all walked out of their hiding places

"Now let's set the last explosive and get out of here." Said Carlos

Jeremy set the last explosive, while he was doing that; two Mantas flew into the room though the window

They all hid, including Jeremy who was already hidden while he was setting the explosive

Jeremy finished setting the explosive but now they couldn't leave with the Manta's watching the entire room

They all clutched their gun; William circled around the Mantas and hid by the windows

While the Mantas were looking away, he jumped on top of a table, and then on top of a Manta, he stabbed the symbol with his sword then jumped off of it and onto the other one

But this one managed to hit him off, then dropped a mine near him, he rolled away just before it blew

Using the confusion to his advantage, Mathew jumped on top of the Manta and shot the symbol, then jumped off when it blew

They all got out of their hiding places

"Great, why didn't you just shout out window?" said Jeremy

"What's done is done, we just need to get out of here before," The sergeant was cut-off by a huge blast of energy hitting the building

"What was that?" said Jeremy

Aelita ran to the window

"2 Mega-tanks!" she yelled to them

Then they hit the building again and they all ran for the doors

"What are Mega-tanks doing here?" yelled Jeremy

"Let's focus on getting out of this building first, then deal with them!" said Carlos


	22. Episode 22

They ran out of the building the same way they came in, the moment they exited one of the Mega-Tanks entered the alley and shot a blast at them

They dodged the beam before it started rolling towards them in a speed that would crush them for sure

They ran out of the alley the opposite way and got out just before being flattened

The Mega-Tank fired again, this time immediately after dodging the group shot at it, although it entered ball-mode before they could do any significant damage to it

It rolled at them again, they dodged and it ended up crashing into the building

Now the Manta Hive woke up and the skies were filled with them, to make matters worse the second Mega-Tank had followed them through the alley to

"In the building, now!" yelled Carlos

They ran inside to escape, although they still weren't safe

The Mega-Tanks rolled through the walls and prepared to fire

William saw the dynamite that Jeremy must have dropped when they dodged the Mega-Tank,

"Get down!" he yelled as he aimed and shot the explosives, destroying the Mega-Tanks and the entire entrance

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Dust and grime filled the air around them, everyone coughed and got off the ground after being knocked down from the impact

"Is everyone alright?" said Carlos

"Yeah…we're okay." Said Aelita

"We're not out of the fire yet, we need to get off the streets now, that the hive is woken up, no where near this place will be safe." Said Jeremy

"We should get to the sewers, Mantas can't go down there." Said Mathew

"The nearest Manhole is over there in the streets. They would blast us to bits before we could get it open." Said William

They were all silent for a while, each one thinking of a plan

"…I'll go out and draw them away from here, that should buy you enough time to get down there." Said Mathew

"Morgan…you know the chances of you surviving is slim." Said Jeremy

"Better one of us goes down than all of us." Said Mathew

He started walking towards the door

"Wait 5 seconds then start running." He said

"Mathew, are you sure?" said Carlos

He looked back at them

"Don't worry, just make sure you all get out of here…it's been an honor serving with you." Said Mathew

He pulled out his gun and charged out shooting

"Come on you miserable sons of bitches!" he screamed at the Mantas while making them follow him further and further away from the group

None of them wasted a minuet, they ran for the manhole, he had taken away most of the Mantas and they were able to get in without much trouble

Mathew was shot in the leg and fell to the ground, he sat on his back and shot at the Mantas in the air

They hit him again in the chest, then the arm, leg again, then torso

He coughed up blood, and struggled to raise his arm to fire again when they shot the gun out of his hand

His breath became raspy and harsh, blood was pouring out of his wounds and his mouth

He saw his team successfully open the manhole and crawl through and to safety

He laid back and smiled

"Hit me again…I dare you…" he taunted the monsters

Then they hit his head


	23. Episode 23

They climbed down into the sewers, not long after they could hear the explosion of the building above them and it sounded like it was collapsing.

"Least that went right." Said Aelita

"Let's go, we have to get back to the police station." Said Carlos

They tried their best to stay on the path to the police station unfortunately there weren't many landmarks in the sewers

They climbed out of a random manhole when they thought they were close, Aelita recognized the street and said that the station was just a block away.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Not long after, they could see the station

"Come on, we'll activate the beacon from the roof." Said Carlos

Although, as they approached the station

BANG!

A bullet went through the sergeant's skull

"Ambush!" said Jeremy

Jeremy, Aelita, and William all stood back to back, weapons ready

William spotted a man in a black uniform with red line patterns in a building with a sniper rifle

William shot at him, but the man stepped out of view

Then three men in similar uniforms stepped out of the building with weapons holstered

The three aimed at the approaching men, watching them cautiously

"Guys…the symbol." Said Aelita referring to the XANA symbol on their chest

"XANA! Not surprising he would take a few human slaves." said William

The three men stopped a few meters away

"We've come with a message." Said the one in front

"We don't have anything to hear from you XANA!" said Jeremy

"I am not XANA, I merely work for him." He said

"If he's not inside you than why would you be helping him?" said Aelita

"When at war, you chose the side that's going to win." He said "But this isn't why I came to you, I am only here to give you a message."

Then the mark of XANA appeared in his eyes and his voice became more…computerized

"William, Aelita, and Jeremy." Said XANA

William aimed the gun at his head

"I won't hesitate." He said

"Destroy this one if you will, I have plenty. You three have never been anything but an annoyance, and you _still_ are nothing but an annoyance. You can not stop me, I am above all, and below me, you are nothing."

"Gloating won't win you a war." Said Aelita

"There is no war, only a pointless battle against your imminent doom. My rising will mark your extinction. The only reason your species has survived so long has been because I have allowed it, and now it will end because I demand it. You have no hope against me, do not fight back, surrender yourselves to my influence, and you will be spared as slaves."

"You know, for a super-computer, you really are clueless." Said William "I thought you had figured it out. Sure we may not have much hope left. Sure we may not have your eternal life. Sure we may be out-numbered and out-gunned. But we will fight. We'll fight with everything we have left until it's all gone, and then we'll keep fighting. We'll fight, we'll hurt, and we'll fall. But we won't break! We'll win, we'll defeat you and we will survive! Cause we're humans, that's what we do."

XANA still stood there, his puppet silent

"You can try to escape your imminent destruction, but you will fail, you weaken with each passing moment, and that is why you will die, you wither and die, I am eternal." Said XANA "Kill them."

William, Jeremy and Aelita shot at the puppets before they had time to carry out the order XANA gave them

Then the sniper came out again, Aelita killed him with a headshot

"Great speech William." Said Aelita

"Yeah, felt good telling XANA to screw off." Said William

"Let's get to the roof, that's where the beacon is, we don't have much reason to stay here anymore, especially now that XANA is on our tail." Said Jeremy


	24. Episode 24

They ran into the police station, Jeremy grabbed the beacon from a locker, they quickly ran to the roof

Jeremy set the beacon on the ground and activated it

"The beacon is transmitting our location to command." Said Jeremy "The down-side is that XANA can intercept that signal and trace it back to us, so we need to be ready for a fight."

William looked at him

"You couldn't have mentioned that BEFORE we activated it!" he yelled

Already, Hornets were incoming

They all took cover and shot down the Hornets

"Command will be here in a few minuets, we need to hold this position until they do!" said Jeremy "William, you guard the door in case they enter via the stairs!"

"When were you put in charge?" said William

"When Sergeant Carlos was shot!" said Aelita "In the event that the squad leader is K.I.A. his or her highest ranking subordinate takes his or her place!"

Another wave of Hornets reached the roof, the three jumped out of cover and shot them down before they could do any damage to them or the beacon

They saw another wave of Hornets approaching in the distance

"They really don't want us getting out of here." Said William

"Something tells me XANA didn't like your little pep talk." Said Jeremy

After they shot down the second wave of Hornets a third wave came as well as Tarantulas on the ground

"I'll deal with them!" said William as he jumped from the building onto a Tarantula, if he had missed by a centimeter he would be splattered all over the road, but he managed to land on the Tarantula, stabbing his sword into the symbol before jumping off and shooting another one

The third and final one opined fire on him, he jumped behind a car, the Tarantula used rapid fire. To counter William jumped over the car and right in-between the Tarantula's arms/guns

He stabbed the Tarantula in the symbol, then jumped back as it exploded

He looked up to the roof as Jeremy and Aelita finished off the last of the Hornets

"Are you alright?" Aelita called down

"I'm fine. You?" he called back

"We're managing. You should get back up here, the EVAC chopper cam come any minuet."

Then another wave of monsters came, Hornets in the sky and Blocks in the streets

William shot one of the Blocks, the other two tried to attack him, he easily dodged and jumped behind cover.

Then jumped over and stabbed one of them while shooting the other

Then he shot a few Hornets in the air to make Jeremy and Aelita's jobs easier

"Don't ever say I never do anything for you!" he called to them

"Look out!" Jeremy screamed down

William looked behind him to see a wave of Creepers and Crabs

"Shit!" he said jumping behind a car while they fired at him

Then the chopper was finally within view

"William, get up here! It's time to go!" Aelita screamed down

William ran into the building and up the stairs as fast as he could

When he was on the roof he saw that the chopper hadn't bothered to land all the way, he would have to jump on

As he was running towards it, a Crab was climbing onto the roof; it already had 2 of its long legs on the roof of the building

"Civilian! Get your ass on the chopper, we can't stay for more than a few more seconds!" said the pilot

William jumped on top of the Crab and from there he jumped onto the chopper, just barely grabbing onto the railing

Aelita and Jeremy helped pull him up, once he was safely aboard William shot the Crab while the chopper took off and out of the city


	25. Episode 25

The chopper took them far away from the city

"Where's Commander Grant?" said Aelita

"Waiting at the HQ. Where is your commanding officer, Sergeant Carlos?" said the pilot

"K.I.A." said Jeremy

"Bastards took him out before we even knew they were there." Said William

"Well, you can rest easy now, the scanners don't pick up any monsters perusing us, looks like we're in the clear." Said the pilot

The sun was starting to fall, Aelita and Jeremy went to sleep but William couldn't

"_I'm so close. She's so close." He thought to himself_

He was too close to finding Yumi to rest or think about anything else

As soon as they met this "Commander Grant" William would make him tell him where Yumi is, even if he had to beat it out of him, which he hoped could be avoided

Then again, Grant didn't exactly have much reason to deny him

"We're here!" said the pilot

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The HQ was in the basement level of a large building in an average sized city, going in William noticed the surprising lack of monsters on the streets and skies, instead there were tanks and soldiers

"This is one of the few cities that we managed to break from their control." Said the pilot

"I wasn't aware that any cities had been saved." Said William

"Not many civilians do, least not the ones that haven't been saved by the Rescue Branch." Said Aelita

"Will this 'Commander Grant' be able to get me in contact with the Rescue Branch?" said William

"Probably, but you'll have to wait a week or so, it's hard to communicate with other branches, if we're not careful then they can trace it back to us and use it to get in the network and break us down from the inside." Said the pilot

They made a clean landing on the top of the building, where a middle-aged guy in uniform approached them, Aelita and Jeremy instantly stood at attention

"At ease." He said, "Who did you bring here?"

"William Dunbar, a civilian from the city, sir." Said Jeremy

"Commander Grant I assume?" said William

Grant nodded

"This way." Said Grant

They followed the Commander into the elevator and down to _sub-basement 3_

They entered a small office with an oval shaped table; clearly this was a kind of conference hall or something

They all took a seat

"What happened to Sergeant James Carlos and Private 1st Class Mathew Morgan?" said Grant

"Private Morgan gave his life in the line of duty to help the rest of us escape," said Jeremy "Sergeant Carlos was killed in an ambush."

Jeremy and Aelita told Grant what happened from each of their perspectives in step-by-step detail

Grant raised his eyebrow when he heard about humans working for XANA

"So, you encountered XANA." Said Grant "Few people know about him, fewer want to believe in him. People high up, like me, have been given Intel on him. He's a computer AI, the leader of these monsters."

William chuckled, this guy actually thought he was the only one in the room who knew about XANA, he was tempted to prove him wrong but he had more important things to worry about

"Look, pretend for a second that I don't really care about computers and crap and just want what I came for." Said William "See, after Jeremy tried to kill me, Carlos made me deal, I help them destroy the Manta Hive and you guys get me in contact with another civilian who was taken by the Rescue Branch."

Grant thought about this for a moment

"Name?" said Grant

"Yumi Ishiyama."

"I'll see what I can do."


	26. Episode 26

Over the next 2 weeks William had been put with some cadets and helped out around the base, doing errands and fixing things, he was just glad that he didn't run into Jeremy and Aelita too often and it kept him busy while waiting for word on Yumi

Although after 2 weeks William was beginning to grow impatient, why was it taking so long for them to find her?

He went to find Commander Grant to find out what was going on

"We can't contact her." Said Grant, barely looking up from the work on his desk

"What?" said William angrily

"We can't fulfill the Sergeant's promise."

"Why not? Why can't to contact the Rescue Branch?"

"We can contact the Rescue Branch…"

"Then why can't you contact her?"

"Cause no one can't _find_ her. They don't have her in any of their safe houses." Said Grant, finally turning his full attention to William, "Her transport lost contact shortly after leaving the city, we assumed an ambush and they were all presumed dead."

William's eyes widened

"No, she can't be…"

He actually fell to his knees

"I'm sorry Mr. Dunbar, there is nothing I can do." Said Grant

William sat there, speechless

"_She can't be dead. She can't be dead. She __**can't**__ be dead."_

He stood back up, and quickly set his mind strait

"She isn't dead." He said, this time in a more firm voice than an emotional one

"We have not received any contact from her or the rescue squad for 30 days…" said Grant

"You didn't receive any contact from me for 4 damn months, am I dead?" said William "You don't know her like I do, anyone who does know her knows that she doesn't die that easily!"

"Well what do you propose to do about it? It's not like we can just call her!"

"Send me to where they lost contact! I know I can find her!"

"I'm not risking a squad on a wild goose chase!"

"I'm not saying to send a squad, send me! You don't have to risk anyone else, just me!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

William walked though the halls of the building angrily

"_Couldn't risk a chopper and a pilot, and too far to drive or walk."_

He couldn't believe how close he had been to finding her, just to be taken away by an overly cautious Commander

"William!" said Aelita

She ran over to him

"What do you want?" said William

"I heard about what happened with the Commander," said Aelita

"It's not your problem, leave me alone."

"But I want to help!"

"Why would you want to help me?"

"What matters is that I _can_ help, I can get you transport to her last known position. If she's alive, that's where you'll want to start looking."

William looked at her in disbelief, why she would want to help him at all was beyond his understanding

"How?"


	27. Episode 27

They went to the roof

"You can fly a helicopter?" said William

"I know the basics, it's part of the training program." Said Aelita "The only obstacle is getting past the pilot."

They walked over to the helicopter; a pilot sat in the cockpit doing routine maintenance

"Commander Grant wants to speak with you." Said Aelita

The pilot looked at them both questionably

"Why would the Commander want to see me?" said the pilot

"Don't know, but it sounded really important." Said William

"Well first I need to finish this, it's being sent out in less than an hour and I'm not even half-way done." Said the pilot

"You know it's not good on your service record to keep a boss waiting." Said William

"You know what's worse on a service record, leaving a job half-done." Said the Pilot

"But…it's a, umm…promotion!" stumbled Aelita

The pilot got out of the cock-pit and faced them

"Ya know if I didn't know any better I'd say your **too **determined to get me away from the chopper, what are you up to?" he said with a raised eye-brow

"Is something wrong?" said a voice behind them

William and Aelita turned around to see Jeremy

"Possibly sir. These two are just acting suspiciously." Said the Pilot

Jeremy looked at both of them

Aelita mouthed the words _"please help"_

"I'll handle this, return to your standard post." Said Jeremy to the pilot

"Yes sir." Said the pilot as he walked back into the building

"Did he just call you _sir?" _said William

"I was promoted to Sergeant after our assignment." Said Jeremy "What exactly are you two doing?"

"We're going to find Yumi." Said Aelita

"I thought the Commander was already doing that?" said Jeremy

"Her rescue chopper was ambushed, they don't know where she is." Said Aelita

"And your commander doesn't want to risk anyone by sending someone to help them." Said William "So we're going to steal a chopper and save her."

"That's insane, you'll be wanted by the Military, and that's _if _you survive!" said Jeremy

"Call the cops." Said William stepping into the chopper

Aelita was about to step into the pilot's seat

"Aelita, why are you going?" said Jeremy

"I want to help William find Yumi, and someone has to fly the chopper." Said Aelita

"Why, we don't owe him anything?"

"Yumi is our friend!"

"She's probably not even still…alive!"

"What would you do if it were _me_ out there?"

Jeremy didn't know how to reply

"Can you just help us…if not for William or Yumi than for me?" said Aelita

Jeremy sighed

"Fine." He said

Then they both climbed into the pilot and co-pilot chairs

"Your coming too?" said William

"I'm just making sure that Aelita get's back in one piece." Said Jeremy

They started the take-off and left the city

"Great, best-case scenario we're all court-marshaled." Grumbled Jeremy

"What would you say the worst-case is?" said William

"I'd rather not think about that."


	28. Episode 28

They approached the last known location of Yumi's rescue chopper, which happened to be in a very familiar city

"Where it all began." Said Aelita

"I think I can see the factory." Said Jeremy

Monsters of every kind surrounded it, probably the most secure place XANA had under his control

"Maybe he's not as confident as he wants us to believe if he's going through that much trouble to shield himself." Said William

"If we could just get in there, we could end this terrible struggle once and for all." Said Jeremy

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

They landed on a building right by the crashed helicopter that must have been Yumi's

After climbing down they inspected the chopper

There were only two bodies, both of them soldiers

"Yumi's not here, that means she got away!" said William

"But where could she go?" said Jeremy

Then they heard something behind them, they looked to see a Scyphozoa

Each raised a pistol to fire, then froze when they saw someone in front of it

"Yumi!" yelled William running towards her

Then she turned around and kicked him back with such force he was smashed against the chopper

"Yumi, what are you doing?" said Aelita

"That's not Yumi anymore." Said Jeremy

Noticing the XANA symbol in her eyes

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

**A/N—sorry about the shortness of this chapter, I'm juggling 4 stories at once**


	29. Episode 29, 30 and 31 Finale

**Chapter 29**

**I got a message thinking that this story was over, and while it was a complete ending if you put all the pieces together yourself, that would be just plain cruel. I've been busy writing a whole bunch of other stories but I'll put those on hold and finish this since it's the closest to completion, seriously like, 2 or 3 chapters max**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"No." said William

He couldn't stop staring, of all the evil XANA could do; this had to top it all

Yumi started walking towards them, the only one with her was the Scyphozoa

Aelita and Jeremy got up and backed away slowly

"Come on, get up!" said Jeremy, trying to pull William to his feet

William stood up but still could only stare dumbfounded

Then Yumi charged at them, grabbing Jeremy by the neck and throwing him to the side, Aelita threw a punch only to be flipped over

"Yumi! Don't let him do this!" said William

Yumi grabbed him by the neck and held him in the air

"You can…fight him." Said William

"You over-estimate the power of the human will, my mind will always be stronger." Said XANA

"You don't know her like I do monster." Said William "Yumi…I know you're still in there…fight him…"

Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, the firm grip on his neck dropped

"William…" said Yumi, real Yumi

"Yumi." Said William, putting a hand on her cheek

"You have to get away…he's still in there, I can feel his fingers clawing at my brain!" said Yumi

"We'll fight him together, you don't have to be his slave!" said William

Then the Scyphozoa tentacles sparked, small traces of sparks circled around Yumi's head

The symbol returned to her eyes, and she punched William in the gut then threw him onto the ground

"My mind is stronger." Said XANA

Then Jeremy knocked "Yumi" to the ground and helped William stand

"We've got to go!" yelled Aelita signaling to the entrance of a building

They ran to the building, William looked back and "Yumi" walked towards them

"I'll be back, count on it." Said William

Then he and the others ran

Chapter 30

After escaping XANA the trio hid on top of a building

"That son of a bitch!" said William

Jeremy sat in a chair and stared at the ground

"We've got to get out of the city." Said Jeremy

"To hell with that, I'm not leaving Yumi here with _it_." Said William

"How do you plan on saving her, it took a computer program to get you out, we don't even have a computer."

"Yumi is stronger than I was." Said William

"It takes a lot more than willpower to break out of his control."

Then Aelita walked onto the roof

"Guys, we should go scavenge for some food." Said Aelita

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

They walked through the city, traveling through back ally ways and going through buildings, trying to stay off the street as much as possible

After they felt they had enough food they started heading back

As they were crossing a street, a Block spotted them

Jeremy shot it, but the sound from the gun going off attracted the attention of all the monsters around them

"Perfect." Said William

They ducked behind the car to avoid being shot by the barrage of lasers, there were too many for them to bother counting

They ran out of cover and towards a parking garage

Once inside, they hid inside a car, weapons ready

Once the coast seemed clear, they ran out and headed for the exit nearest their hideout

There was only 1 (well, two counting the Scyphozoa) thing blocking their path

"Yumi." Said William

She just glared at the three, then started walking towards them

Jeremy attacked her; she grabbed his head and smashed it against a car, knocking him out

Aelita ran towards him only to be thrown over a car and onto another one, also knocking her out

She attacked William who jumped back then to the side

"You don't have to do this! I used to be his slave once, remember? I got out! So can you!" he said

"She has no choice." Said XANA

"You don't have her, not completely!"

"You over-estimate the power of a human heart."

William grabbed Jeremy's gun and aimed at the Scyphozoa

Yumi grabbed his arm and broke it, then picked up the gun and aimed at his head

"Yumi…I know you're still in there." Said William "You can fight him…I know you can."

"Finish him." Said XANA

Yumi stood there, frozen

William wrapped his hand around hers

"You can do it." Said William

Yumi jabbed the end of the gun into his forehead

"Human will is nothing compared to my mind, nothing can break free." Said XANA

"I did, and so can she!" said William "So can you, Yumi."

The symbol started to flicker and weaken; just as it did the Scyphozoa sent sparks at her that attacked her mind

Her finger came closer and closer to the trigger; even now she was still fighting

Then, she jerked her arm at the Scyphozoa and shot at it, destroying it

With it's destruction, Yumi collapsed on the ground, the sudden escape from XANA left her weak

William ran over to her and held her in his arms

"Thank you." Said Yumi, smiling

Then her mind went dark

Chapter 31

Yumi woke up on a cement ground; she looked up to see William looking down at her

"Where…are we?" said Yumi

"We're safe now, you're going to be alright." Said William

"Yumi, you're awake!" said Aelita

Then she and Jeremy crowded around her

"Are you feeling alright?" said Jeremy

"Yeah…I think he's gone." Said Yumi

William helped her stand

She looked around and saw that they were on a roof

The world below them was still destroyed, monsters still walked the streets

"It's not over yet." Said Yumi

"It may never be over." Said William "But that just means we'll never stop fighting."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

**A/N—That's the end of the book, sorry if it seemed a little rushed cause, well, it was a little rushed, I sort of want to get back to writing my other fan fictions, honestly I got tired of this a while back. I meant to tell you in the story but there were people who discovered XANA and believed it to be a god or something and they reactivated it, the guys who killed Cpt. Carlos were a part of that group, I meant to get more in depth about them but failed at that. Anyone who wants to continue this and give it an ending that actually deals with the whole "XANA took over the world" problem can go ahead**


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